UPM 30th Birthday

10th December 2005

UPM celebrate 30 years of serving the Plastics Industry on December 10th this year and the two co-founders Mike McWilliams and Roy Fowler claim theirs is the longest serving partnership in the industry plus being the only UK manufacturer of ancillary equipment being exported worldwide.

UPM was conceived on the basis of offering a unique service back in 1975 when a company buying a moulding machine would invariably deal with at least three or four suppliers to automate with say a granulator; dryer / hopper loader; chiller; belt conveyor etc but UPM offered a one stop shop for a package deal.

By accepting total responsibility for all equipment to be supplied and integrated to the machine UPM gave the customer convenience and peace of mind in only dealing with one supplier who would custom engineer to suit the application.

Some 10 years ago UPM established a European Network of Agents for their product handling program and today have gained world wide acceptance with their infrared drying (IRD) focusing on PET processing which required investing in a demonstration area to allow customers to send in samples of their material and attend a trial to prove the benefits claimed.

Historically UPM had established an internal infrastructure to cater for total turn key projects which has proved invaluable as IRD systems usually involve silos; material conveying; gravimetric blending and edge trim plus skeletal waste reclaim together with product handling involving all software and controls to be supplied by in-house UPM engineering personnel.

Mac and Roy reflect back on the good old days when Interplas filled six halls at the NEC but despite the doom and gloom they remain optimistic for the future having just applied for the Queens Award to Industry for Outstanding Innovation.